What would you do if a friend consdiered themselves to be *insert pagan-term here*, but was going about it in a completely Hollywood-ized or otherwise fluffy manner? I have attempted reccommending literature, but this particular person (I am not saying this to be rude) is not an avid reader and is barely average in intelligence (by birth); she's not dumb, she just has difficulties processing complicated information. By the same token, she keeps bouncing around, denying what she is one minute and then changing her mind and calls herself Wiccan again the next. At one point she accused me of telling her how to practice when she talked about something from Charmed which absolutely wasn't true of Wicca and I corrected her....she also seems to intentionally forget that witchcraft and Wicca are not neccessarily the same thing. I applaud her attempts at learning, and she's really been trying lately. I want to help her get a better understanding of what Wicca and paganism are, but I don't think I am able to communicate effectively to her, even though she's asked. What should I do?

I should note that her mind is stuck at about a sixteen year old age- she thinks and behaves as though she is sixteen, though she functions just fine in day to day life. From her music to her clothes to her puppy loves and other obsessions, she is most definately a teenage girl in her mind (though she is 22). She has lived on her own, held jobs- nothing prevents her from functioning.

Wait her out. She'll move on. Alternatively, an annotated Ravenwolf can work wonders. Assuming you can handle reading Ravenwolf all the way through without stabbing your eyes out so that you can actually annotate it.

_________________Remember one thing about democracy. We can have anything we want and at the same time, we always end up with exactly what we deserve.

What would you do if a friend consdiered themselves to be *insert pagan-term here*, but was going about it in a completely Hollywood-ized or otherwise fluffy manner? I have attempted reccommending literature, but this particular person (I am not saying this to be rude) is not an avid reader and is barely average in intelligence (by birth); she's not dumb, she just has difficulties processing complicated information. By the same token, she keeps bouncing around, denying what she is one minute and then changing her mind and calls herself Wiccan again the next. At one point she accused me of telling her how to practice when she talked about something from Charmed which absolutely wasn't true of Wicca and I corrected her....she also seems to intentionally forget that witchcraft and Wicca are not neccessarily the same thing. I applaud her attempts at learning, and she's really been trying lately. I want to help her get a better understanding of what Wicca and paganism are, but I don't think I am able to communicate effectively to her, even though she's asked. What should I do?

The only solution for ignorance is education. If they are unwilling to learn, they never will. Perhaps if she has issues with reading, one of the numerous pagan pod casts, or youtube video's may be more conducive to her education.

_________________If you approach the Gaelic gods with 'I'm not worthy', they're going to reply to you with 'Then come back when you are.

That's my experience too. What you hope is that they carry away a decent impression of your religion or the people in it, even if it is not for them.

_________________Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones. Marcus Aurelius

Hmmm....I could try to Ravenwolf thing. I haven't read anything by her in....well, I don't think I've ever read anything by Ravenwolf. Might be entertaining. I hadn't thought of podcasts. I will look into that. Seshen did post those youtube vids awhile back, I guess i could reccommend those....thanks everyone, wish me luck!

Honestly you can't teach them. All you can do is offer correction when they make mistakes. If they ask, direct them to some basic works you think explain things simply enough for a "scanner" not a deep reader to absorb, but honestly just the occasional correction is all you can hope to get through.

With most people its just a phase. With some people the phase can last a few decades....